Ok, I'm as new a newbie to linux as you can get. I've got Win XP on the big part of my HDD, and I set aside 5 gigs for RH9 the last time I formatted it all. I went through the RH9 graphical install process from start to finish, including formatting & partitioning for linux and everything seemed to go fine. I checked the integrity of all 3 cd's and they were ok.
Now, when I start RH9 (via boot disk - no loader installed) everything seems to go fine, I get all the green "OK"'s to the right of my screen, then, I get a fat little black "x" in the middle of my screen, outlined in white. There are small red symbols and a green horizontal line made up of vertical bars running along the top of the screen. There is no mouse or keyboard cursor. Ctrl+alt+backspace, double-clicking and typing in my password don't achieve anything. The computer just seems to be hung up. I have to hit the reset button on my case to restart.
My hardware is all about 2-3 years old, and everything seems to have been detected & recognized when I was installing off the cd's. Any idea what could be the prob? I'm starting to realize why Windows is so popular, and why it costs money - you stick the cd in, and your computer frigging works.

System specs:

AMD Athlon 2000+
384MB PC133 sdram (256 Kingston & 128 generic) - work fine w/XP
Asus A7A266 mb w/latest BIOS
ATI Rage 128 Pro All-In-Wonder 4xAGP
SoundBlaster Live! audio
Yamaha 8424EZ CDRW

i dont use RH, but it seems like you are hanging on X config. question: when you reach this point can you ctrl-alt-f2 or ctrl-alt-f1 and login?

and check this link out:

http://www.justlinux.com/nhf/Hardwar...d_Working.html

and another question: do you have a knoppix cd at hand? can you download one?

ashley

p.s.: about "I'm starting to realize why Windows is so popular, and why it costs money - you stick the cd in, and your computer frigging works." : no comments

linux is in some areas not as user friendly as windows. That is due in part for lack of support of PC hardware companies. That has been changing lately. In other areas, linux moves on very slow. That has its + and -... Linux code normally is more secure. And why windows costs money, in my opinion, has not much to do with the quality of the software, just with how you market your product, like in every branche, software or not.

And no software is perfect, be it open source or closed. a lot of people have problems with their w2000 and xps, like: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Oper..._20813626.html

or just scroll around: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Oper...stems/Win2000/
All those security vulnerabilites... and they are paying for their software!

When you are new it gets frustrating, and you have to learn a lot at the beginning to get things working as you want them to. But then things start working as you REALLY want them to.